21 November

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Chambers: SoE end may not save businesses

in Newspaper Articles, Tobago Business Chamber

AS OF MIDNIGHT on Wednesday night, the six-month long state of emergency (SoE) was discontinued by government two weeks before it was set to expire. While the move is a welcome one, on Thursday, some business chambers said there was still some concern over the turnout of customers and the rate of business for the Christmas season, especially with infections on the rise. TT Chamber of Commerce chairman Gabriel Faria, in recalling the chamber’s earlier call to remove the SoE or reduce the hours of the curfew, said the removal of the SoE would give businesses more time to operate. “The key...

11 November

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Tobago Chamber: Government paying lip service to private sector

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in Newspaper Articles, Tobago Business Chamber

Tobago Business Chamber chairman Martin George has accused the Government of paying lip service in its efforts to develop Tobago's private sector. George said if the Government was serious, it would repeal the Foreign Investment Act, immediately reopen beaches on the island, and remove VAT from all goods and services there. His comments come three days after the Prime Minister gave the commitment that the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), once controlled by the PNM, will continue to shoulder the burden of providing employment, until the private sector is robust enough to take over. Dr Rowley said the expansion of the island's...

11 November

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Reopen island’s beaches: Call from Tobago Chamber

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in Newspaper Articles, Tobago Business Chamber

THE Tobago Business Chamber is urging the Government to remove restrictions on beaches, as the organisation believes the beach ban has outlived its usefulness. The chamber chairman, Martin George, in a video post sent to the media yesterday, said that most Trinidadians who visit Tobago for vacation always want to go to the beach with their families. “It is high time that the restriction be lifted as the beaches are also a tourism revenue earner and many people who work at the various beaches have been out of a job for several months,” George said. Many other bar and restaurant owners in Tobago...

11 November

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As Tobago hotel closes, George says clear vaccination policy needed

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in Newspaper Articles, Tobago Business Chamber

As Tobago’s economy continues to feel the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Martin George, Chairman of the Tobago Business Chamber, believes that Government should look to vaccination as the key to recovery. In fact, he’s of the view a stronger approach, one rooted in legislation, is necessary to help the economy rebound and return to Tobago to some semblance of normalcy. George was commenting on the temporary closure of award-winning Tobago resort Coco Reef Resort and Spa, which today announced that it couldn’t continue to operate amidst continued uncertainty. Owner John Jefferis said the resort’s reopening will be announced in due course, when...

11 November

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Tobago Chamber: Gov’t must consider mandatory COVID-19 vaccination

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in Newspaper Articles, Tobago Business Chamber

The time has come for Government to consider going the route of mandatory vaccination to continue easing restrictions to allow closed business sectors to reopen. This, from Chairman of the Tobago Business Chamber Martin George who said the quickest way for the country to get back to a state of normalcy is to “legislate to vaccinate” against COVID-19. George, in a video message, said T&T’s COVID-19 vaccination rate remains too low and will present the risk of new waves of infection if other sectors are reopened. He said the move to reopen the retail sector next Monday is a positive step, but the...

11 November

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George: Do more to develop Tobago’s private sector

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in Newspaper Articles, Tobago Business Chamber

Chairman of the Tobago Business Chamber Martin George believes that not enough has been done to support the development of a strong private sector. George made the comment as he weighed in on recent issues raised on the Tobago House of Assembly campaign trail as it relates to employment opportunities for Tobagonians. He said: “We have seen over the years, the deliberate destruction of the private sector, the dismantling of all the processes and procedures which would support a viable and sustainable private sector in order to ensure that there is the continuing dependency upon the Tobago House of Assembly.” According to George,...

07 November

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PM tables debate on new PSC

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in Newspaper Articles, Police Service Commission

A new Police Service Commission (PSC) is expected to be cemented next week. Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley who is scheduled to return from Scotland on Saturday, will pilot a debate next Wednesday in Parliament to approve the new five-member Commission. This was confirmed to Guardian Media yesterday by Leader of Government in the House of Representatives Camille Robinson-Regis. The Prime Minister, Robinson- Regis and a Trinidad and Tobago team are in Scotland for the United Nations’ climate change conference. The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) last week indicated Rowley returns on Saturday. Prior to leaving Robinson-Regis had told Guardian Media that all...

01 November

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Police commission crisis remains unsettled as PM jets off to Scotland

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in Newspaper Articles, Police Service Commission

Former chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC) Prof Ramesh Deosaran has described as an “unhappy coincidence,” the fact that the Prime Minister, Leader of Government Business and other key ministers are out of the country whilst the appointment of a substantive commission remains unresolved. Dr Rowley, Planning Minister Camille Robinson-Regis, Energy Minister Stuart Young and Foreign Affairs and Caricom Minister Dr Amery Browne left the country on Saturday to attend the World Leaders Summit at the UN Climate Change Conference, COP 26, in Glasgow, Scotland. The conference begins on Sunday and is expected to end on November 12. A statement from...

16 October

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Attorneys urge: Revise law to select CoP

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in Newspaper Articles, Police Service Commission

ATTORNEYS Dave Persad and Martin George are calling for a new process to appoint an acting Commissioner of Police (CoP). They were reacting on Thursday to High Court judge Justice Nadia Kangaloo voiding the appointments of both Gary Griffith and Mc Donald Jacob to the post. Law Association president Sophia Chote SC said she could not comment as she was abroad, while Griffith’s attorney Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj told Newsday he first needed to read the judgement and that his client had already commented in a Facebook video. Persad, in August, had alleged that Griffith’s appointment as acting CoP had been “illegal, null and...

14 October

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Mom hasn’t seen babies in weeks, threatens lawsuit against Children’s Authority

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in Newspaper Articles

Attorney Martin George has sent a pre-action protocol letter to the Children’s Authority, demanding the return of two infant children to their mother. George said his client, a single mother, has not seen her children or had any meaningful contact with them since they were taken from her by the Authority on September 20. The woman will not be identified to protect the identities of her children. Yesterday George said the allegations made against his client of ill-treatment and abuse of the children were false. George said the reports were made by his client’s mother and grandmother, who have since both recanted and...